1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to continuous hot rolling mills of the type employed to roll rods and the like, and is concerned in particular with an improved layout for the finishing section of such mills.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The finishing section of a rod mill lies between the intermediate section of the mill and a laying head which forms the finished product into loops for subsequent deposit on a cooling conveyor.
Typically, the finishing section includes a plurality of finishing stands mechanically coupled to a common drive and commonly referred to as a "finishing block". The finishing block and associated equipment, including cooling boxes, shears, pinch rolls, etc. are conventionally arranged along a common path leading to the laying head.
This arrangement imposes certain restrictions on the ease with which the mill operator can shift from one product size to another. Additional difficulties are encountered when attempting to roll the smaller sized products at lower temperature ranges.
The objective of the present invention is to provide a novel and improved layout for the finishing section of the mill, which increases the flexibility of the mill, both with regard to finish product sizes and finish rolling temperatures.
A companion objective of the present invention is the reduction in costly down time conventionally experienced when shifting from one product size to another.